Hi Steve,
I don't believe that the first hundred (or first 74) had anything better than what we have.
What I do believe that as a whole, the fellowship has failed to do much with that gift you speak of. We have squandered away the gift we've given. You're right about NA and the treatment centers. They're not doing anything to us, we're doing it to ourselves. One of the big reasons I talk of leaving.
As for the fellowship surviving the problem, I don't think so. AA has been flatlining for years, actually it is in decline. We have more people coming through, more meetings popping up, yet fewer members. It is a dying thing. Maybe it should die.